You know the Game, the one you're not supposed to think about. Well, Avalon and Moseph decide to make it a little more interesting with a wager, until it gets out of their control. Cheerleaders, jocks, punks... everyone wants in on their new version.

Last Chapter! You can still review. And, I'm placing review responses here!

Tzotel: Yes, her family is finally being told. I hope this is satisfying enough for you!

Snapdragon: Well, I'm leaving a few things open for people to decide how it goes.

Sweets: I hope this is settling enough. and I hope you read my next story as well.

Lunar Vixen: Sorry, there will be no crap kicking out of Erec in this chapter, either. But something else does happen to him.

invizygirl: For once, a shocking reaction actually turns out to be a good thing.

Sam: Sorry, no Epilogue. And, yes, Gawain was one of the family members that wouldn't allow what happened to Avalon remain in the dark.

With a Love To Read: Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad that you like my stories so much. Hope they keep satisfying you.

Chapter 26: Family Matters

"What!"

All eyes turned to Avalon, who was still in her pajamas and curled up
on her chair, her make-up from the night before still smeared on her
face.

"What does this have to do with Kay?" Isolde asked after a
moment.

"Wait, is it even true?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, it is," Kay said, his eyes glued on the floor. He looked
up at the eyes now all on him. "And, this has to do with me
because I knew and rescued her."

"And you didn't tell us!" Mr. Evans yelled in a booming voice.

"I was fourteen," Kay retorted. "I freaked. What was I
supposed to tell you? 'Hey, Dad, happy anniversary, your second
child raped your baby'? I was trying to protect the family."

"And what about Avalon?" Gwen yelled.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" Avalon asked.

"That's not enough," Gwen shrieked.

"Gwen, calm down," her boyfriend said laying a hand on her large
belly. He turned to Avalon and continued for Gwen. "You need more
than just to be alive, Ava. You need to be mentally sound."

"I am," Avalon snapped.

"I've taken care of that," Kay said. "I've set up a
meeting for her with the school psychologist, and he'll decide if
she needs therapy or not."

"You waited ten years before you did anything?" Arthur
asked.

"How irresponsible can you get, Kay?" Gwen yelled again.

"Well, I certainly couldn't do something as a fourteen-year-old,"
Kay defended.

"If you wanted to protect the family, you should have come to me,"
Arthur said. "Let someone who wasn't an irresponsible preteen
decide what was best. Kay, the worst thing you could have done was
to not tell anyone. At least I would have been able to get Avalon
therapy after that."

"Look, I'm perfectly fine," Avalon said.

"No, you're not," Gawain said. "Avalon, Stephanie told me
what went down last night before I got there. He threatened you and
you were just going to let it happen. You should have gone to
someone as soon as he threatened you the first time, not just pretend
it didn't happen. You and your friends almost all got hurt bad
because you didn't do anything."

"Erec was there?" Kay asked his brows furrowing.

"Former Prom King to hand out the new crowns," Gawain quickly
explained. "Avalon, you do need help."

"You heard Kay," Avalon said. "He said that he set up a
meeting for me with the school psychologist to determine if I do need
therapy. He'll say I'm fine."

"I don't care what a school worker says," Mrs. Evans said.
"I'm getting a referral from the doctor for a psychologist
immediately. This must be haunting you, Ava, Baby."

"I can face my fears," Avalon said. "I'll be fine."

"I agree with Gawain," Enide said. She had been suspiciously
quiet. "I disown Erec as a brother."

"We should make it a club," Avalon said.

"Not funny, Ava," Isolde scolded.

"I'm calling the police," Arthur said walking to the phone.

"It was over ten-years-ago," his wife said. "What kind of case
is that? There is no evidence. And it's the word of Avalon and
Kay against Erec."

"He tried to kill Stephanie and Lindsey last night," Gawain said.

"And there are three other people who knew what happened," Kay
said. "After hitting Erec with a baseball bat to get him off Ava,
I took her to Sarah Dressen's. She and her parents know what
happened. Mr. Dressen went with me the next day to get clothes and
stuff for the weekend."

Kay opened the door and walked into the house, Sarah's father
right behind him. He felt weird. When the door closed, Erec
suddenly appeared at the top of the steps, most of his face a bruise.

"Like you would," Erec said. He turned back to Kay. "Avalon
had better be back here before Mom and Dad return."

"Not until you leave," Mr. Dressen said. "So, don't
bother sticking around the rest of the weekend."

Erec sneered and walked off. Kay went into the basement and
pushed into his room. As he packed a bag, he kept his eyes away from
the towel he had used to clean Avalon. He never picked it up. But,
when he returned home an hour before his parents Monday evening with
Avalon, the towel was gone. He assumed that Erec had taken it to get
rid of all evidence that he had hurt Avalon.

"The Dressens took me to a doctor the next morning," Avalon said.
"Somewhere in my records, there should be a report about that."

"So we have a case against him," Arthur said.

Mrs. Evans heaved a sob. Kay looked at her sobbing face, and the
depressed faces of the whole family. "I wanted to protect you all
from this," Kay finally said. "From the terrible feelings of
being related to a monster like him."

Mr. Evans nodded. "It's okay, Kay. Tristan, I want you to call
the police to make the report. Arthur, Gawain, Kay, Greg, you guys
come with me to make a citizens arrest of Erec."

"I've got a pair of handcuffs if you need some," Enide said.
The family turned to her, her brothers all crossing their arms and
turning into protective older brothers. "Okay, this was a bad time
to announce that… I'll go get them for you…"

Enide ran off and came back a minute later with handcuffs and a set
of keys. "Don't worry, they're actual police cuffs."

Avalon was sitting in a small waiting room Monday when she should
have been in English. After her father and brothers had gone and had
to tackle Erec to arrest him for the police, she had shut herself up
in her room the rest of the weekend, reading several Jane Austen
books to occupy her mind and not think about what had happened to
her.

"Avalon?" the psychologist called her into the office after she
had been waiting for five minutes. Avalon walked in and sat in a
chair across from the lady. She looked at the woman. "Your
brother told me what happened to you ten years ago. Would you like
to talk about it at all? Or, anything for that matter, Avalon?
Anything you'd like to get off your chest? Remember, this session
is completely confidential."

Avalon looked at the lady. "I'm fine."

The psychologist sighed. "What about if I say Michelle?" Avalon
shook her head. "Moseph?" Another shake of the head. "Erec?"

"Look, he hurt me, I recovered," Avalon yelled.

"He did hurt you, Avalon," the woman said. "I don't think
you realize how deep the mental cuts are. You were only eight."

With that, Avalon stood up and stormed out of the office. As she was
walking through the halls, she almost missed Moseph until he called
to her. She turned and looked at him. He was making a transition
back to his old self. He wore a pair of nice fitting pants, with his
Converse, and a black t-shirt over a red polo shirt. His hair was
straightened as best he could, but as Enide and Morgan had cut a good
portion off a few weeks earlier, it was difficult for him.

"I called you this weekend a few times," Moseph said. "You
never picked up."

"I wasn't answering for anyone," Avalon said turning away from
him.

"I heard that Erec was arrested," Moseph said. "Actually, the
police asked me for a statement about what happened at the hotel."

"Yeah, me too."

"Look, I came up with something you can do for me, since you lost
to me Friday night," Moseph said. "I've quit playing the Game.
I want you to too."

Avalon looked up at him. Everything that had happened to them over
the last couple of months had happened because of the Game. Now he
was leaving it behind. She nodded. "I think I can manage that,"
she said. "On one condition."

"What's that?"

Avalon leaned in and kissed him deeply. He responded with the same
fiery passion that she applied. When she pulled away, she looked him
in the eyes. "Just, I want you to love me."

"I'd love you even if you didn't quit," Moseph said.

Avalon nodded. "I know." She kissed him again. "Let's get
out of here."

"Now?"

"Yeah. We can go to your house. It'll be empty, right?"

"I have several AP tests coming up this week. I need to study."

"So?" Avalon traced a finger down his chest. "You also need to
relax."

"Ave…"

Avalon sighed deeply. "Mo, I don't know how to make this more
clear."

"I understand what you're getting at," Moseph said taking her
hands in his. "You're suggesting we skip last period to have
sex." Avalon nodded and bit the corner of her lip seductively.
"It's not that I don't want to do that, but last time we had
sex, the next thing I knew, you hated me. The time before that, we
stopped being friends."

"Are you sure?" Avalon asked.

Moseph nodded. He pulled Avalon into his chest and kissed her.
"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Avalon shrugged. "I don't know yet."

He smiled. "Good, because I already told my mom that you were
coming over for dinner. And invite your parents." Moseph let her
go and began down the way he had been headed before stopping and
turning back to her. "That's your parents, not siblings."

"I understand."

Avalon waited until Moseph had turned the corner before she finished
her trip to English. She walked in and the class began to applaud.
Avalon smiled slightly and blushed as she took a seat next to
Stephanie in the back. They were watching another group give a
presentation on stories of dragons, comparing the dragon of Western
culture to Eastern culture. Suddenly, just as the group was about to
finish, a phone ring interrupted everyone. Kay's eyes widened as
he realized it was his phone. The class began snickering as he
pulled out his phone and looked to see who was calling.

"I, uh, kind of have to take this," Kay said, and the class
laughed as Erec walked into the hall.

"Wow," Rebecca laughed as the hall door closed. "What was that
about?"

"Probably Erec," Avalon said with a shudder. However, in
Avalon's purse, her phone began to buzz. Avalon looked at the
screen to see it was Enide calling.

"Yes?" Avalon answered.

"Gwen's in labor!" Enide's shout was loud enough for the
whole class to hear. "Now, get outside because I'm coming to
pick you up, you know, assuming Kay isn't about to leave a class of
25 unattended for more than a minute."

Avalon hung up and packed all her belongings. "I have to go,
Kay'll understand."

Avalon ran past Kay on his phone and was out the school door just as
Enide pulled up in the car that the three girls shared. Isolde was
in the passenger seat so Avalon jumped in back and buckled up.

A few hours later, the whole Evans family, aside from Erec who was no
longer considered family and Morgan who couldn't make another trip
back home so soon were pacing around the waiting room. Even Lance
had come from his work at the research lab to celebrate with the
family.

A nurse walked into the waiting room. "Evans family?" she
questioned. They all stood, eager for news. "Congratulations.
It's a perfectly healthy baby boy. You may go visit her."

Mr. and Mrs. Evans walked in first and Mrs. Evans was immediately at
Greg's side, demanding to hold the baby.

"How's my little Perceval?" Mr. Evans asked looking at his
third grandson standing next to his wife. He then turned to his
other children as they filed in. "If I have any more grandkids in
the next four years, they had better come from Gwen or Arthur,
understand… Enide?"

Enide blushed, but brushed it off as she took the baby from her
mother's arms.

"Please don't pass my son around like a hot potato," Gwen said
from her bed.

"And watch his head," Greg said making sure his sleeping son's
head was supported.

"Can I hold the baby?" Elizabeth asked looking up at Enide.

"Maybe the next baby," Mrs. Evans said as Isolde took the baby.

Kay smiled looking at the scene of his family. Greg following the
baby as it was passed from person to person. Mr. and Mrs. Evans
making sure Gwen was okay. William and Elizabeth were sitting on the
foot of Gwen's bed. Tristan, Gawain, and Lance all question
Arthur's kids as to who was the best uncle. Kay laughed loudly
when Elizabeth pointed at him, disappointing all three brothers.

"Where's Avalon?" Gwen finally questioned.

Kay looked around, and finally spotted her in the waiting room,
looking out the window. He walked up to her. "What's up, Ava?"

"It's nothing, Kay," Avalon said. "Just that, well, I am the
source of all the pain in the family right now."

"Enide was be the closest in age to Will, Lizzie, and now Percy in
our family," Kay said. "That's the last thing we need, Enide
babysitting with one of her many whatever she calls them over."
Avalon smiled a little. "And, Mo would still want Michelle because
he wouldn't have found out how much he loves you."

Avalon nodded slowly. She then turned her aqua eyes to look at her
brother.
"Do you think I need therapy, Kay?"

Kay frowned. "Truthfully, yes, Ava, I do. But not because you're
weak, but because you've had to deal with so much. So, do Mom a
favor and don't walk on the on the psychologist she sends you to
like you did to the school one."

Avalon nodded. "I guess I could." She stood up. "Now, if
you will excuse me, I'd like to hold my nephew, Percy before I
graduate."

First things first. I am not writing a sequel to this. It's long enough for me. If you'd like to, be my guest. Just make sure that you tell me so I can review and disclaim the characters to me. I am not opposed to fanfiction. And, if you need clarification about any of the characters or past situations, just send me a message.

Second, I am starting a new story, tentatively called No Good Deed. It's another cliche type story, (two people who hate one another romance) but, much like this, I'm making it very dramatic.

Finally, I'm holding a contest to see who can guess where I live. Hint: I'm an American citizen and you only need to get the state. More hints are where my stories take place for the most part, or where the main characters are from.
Popular- Ohio (Hoffmanburgvile is a made up town). Also, NYC and LA
Scarlet Panda- Indiana (There is a Clinton, but this Clinton is supposed to be like Chicago. Also, Am lives in Clinton Heights)
Newtseye- Rilie is from Wisconsin, no specific area, Zody from Chicago area, and Bade from Wyoming
Don't Think About the Game- No specific state, but Gawain and Tristan go to Ohio state and Isolde is thinking about Purdue.
Countdown to Christmas (my Christmas special) - Illinois (Palatine)
Jack's Angel/Angel's Devil- No specific state, but Jack is at Stanford in the end.
Middleway (my story with a joint account) - Washington (Gibbsville, made up place placed near Seattle)

I will advertise the first person to guess the correct state in my stories. Please, only one guess per review.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.